Irish fintech firms on track for record-setting 2018

Two Irish fintech companies have announced record third quarter results and plans to hire new staff.

Galway start-up PiP iT Global is to recruit 17 staff over the next 18 months. The expansion follows a €1 million funding round earlier this year.

PiP iT is a secure online payment platform. It allows migrants living and working around the world, who are often denied access to backing facilities most people take for granted, to pay bills and transfer money overseas at a fraction of the cost and time taken by more traditional international payment providers who currently dominate the market.

Ollie Walsh, CEO and co-founder of PiP iT said: “We are digitalising cash. And we are trying to remove the two main obstacles migrants face when transferring money – risk and cost. We want to play a big part in combating financial exclusion across the world, by helping the unbanked and underbanked to fully participate in the Digital World.

“Our fees are 1.5%. This is a significant saving on the payment, but to put it into some context for example, in a developing nation such as Ghana, one year’s health insurance costs $5. So, paying a single bill with PiP iT, as opposed to remitting cash, could pay for health insurance for a family member for a whole year.”

In other news, peer-to-peer lending platform Linked Finance is to achieve record growth in 2018, with a total of over €28 million in new loans facilitated in the first nine months of 2018, up 63% for the same period last year.

LinkedFinance issued €9.3 million in funding Irish SMEs in the third quarter of 2018 up from €5.9 million the same period last year 2017. The platform boasts 19,800 registered users who have earned more than €5.4 million in interest since 2013.

Niall Dorrian, CEO, Linked Finance, said: “We are able to offer Irish SMEs fast and affordable lending solutions, matching their needs with thousands of lenders with capital to deploy. Lending growth of 63% so far this year shows we are making rapid progress towards our goal of establishing Linked Finance the biggest source of non-bank funding to SMEs in Ireland.”

In June, Linked Finance secured backing from Portugal’s fastest growing digital bank, Banco BNI Europa, who will use the platform to lend up to €50 million to Irish SMEs over the next two years. The agreement will further boost liquidity on Linked Finance and ultimately, make it easier for Irish business owners to access the funds they need to fuel growth.